The Eurasian Steppe: People, Movement, ideas

The Eurasian Steppe: People, Movement, Ideas is an ambitious scholarly volume tracing the origins of the European identity in the Eurasian steppe, the vast expanse of land that stretches from Hungary through to the Ural Mountains and China. Covering a period of 5,000 years, this is a bold account that attempts to turn the spotlight from the all-consuming influence of ancient Rome to the cultures of the steppes that have been too often dismissed as ‘barbarian’. It is true that the lack of many tangible archaeological remains and written sources makes some of these societies difficult to study but, as the book’s author Warwick Ball points out, ‘although the Scythians are remembered